The Second Session of Trent

The Council was recalled to Trent for the second session in 1551. On the insistence of Charles V, Protestants were invited to attend. The Protestants came with two demands:

1) All bishops should be relieved from an oath of obedience to the Papacy.

2) The authority of the councils should be made superior to the Papacy.

Clearly this was unacceptable to the Church but the second session did declare that

· pilgrimages and penances were to be upheld

· the doctrine of transubstantiation was affirmed

· communion in both kinds was condemned as were other aspects of the Protestant view of the Eucharist.

This was an obvious snub against the Protestants and it also lead to an increase in the absolute power of the pope. The second session ended in 1552 as a result of the collapse of Charles Vs position in Germany and the menacing advance of Maurice of Saxony.